Ascension
by Silent Marionette
Summary: It wasn't normal, anyone could tell him that. He only ignored them and closed his eyes once more to hide the world.
1. Rude Awakening

**Title:** Ascension

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** It wasn't normal, anyone could tell him that. He only ignored them and closed his eyes once more.

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**Rude Awakening**

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Sweat beaded his forehead, matting down blonde locks and trailing down the side of his flushed face as he tossed and turned beneath twisted sheets. Pain shot through his frail limbs whenever he did so. Moaning quietly at the burning shock running through his veins; for some reason he couldn't stop. He wouldn't. 

Clutching the ends of his sleeves helplessly, the boy finally let out an agonizing scream. I withered away into continuous gasps. Salty tears slipped down his cheeks, stabbing them tauntingly. Her silky words echoed in his mind, haunting each memory and thought. It was her, he knew it. In font of him, the exact smile on her porcelain white skin that used to greet both him and Al, proud of even the smallest of their accomplishments but longing in such a way by desires that neither of them could meet. He had tried desperately with one wish but only ended up falling into a deeper depth.

An identical lurch in his stomach to the one that had occurred earlier returned even stronger. His moist palms wrapped around the side of his small bed, pulling himself towards the edge and reaching for the small invisible bottle of medicine that appeared to be miles off the ground. His body twisted itself consciously and hit the floor hard. The foamy liquid flavored his moth sickly, a whimper blocked in the back of his throat. The usual black tank top and shorts he wore stuck to his small frame by the tears and sweat he was drenched in.

A blinding light suddenly flooded the room, making the boy cringe even from the angle he lay at. Silenced cries escaped his thin lips, disappearing as a dark form approached his figure from the doorway, splitting the light into two bright lines.

"S-Stop! Please, don't!" he whispered scratchily as cold hands grasped him. Barely capable of pulling himself out of hit's tightening grip, he could feel the air escape his lungs as it threw him aside effortlessly. The boy's head jerked to the side uncomfortably as he slid across the wooden floor. The whimper held back in his throat now let go as an overwhelming pain caused him to think that his body had been ripped open on impact.

The dark figure remained silent, emotionless and oblivious to the boy's limp protests. Shaking uncontrollably, the boy couldn't help but watch and feel weaker then he ever had. He could have protected Al, saved him from the twisted future. But he didn't because he never could. Once more the dark threats that had haunted him had taken over another.

"S-Stop."

A rough blow to the head had whipped away the rest of his pointless words, almost taking his conscious with it as well. Gasping for air though his lungs were now full, he knew it wouldn't be much longer; a minute maybe, even a few seconds. Everything would just slip away.

Submerged in the shadows cast overhead, his eyes narrowed; closing at such a slow pace that each action of the figure was still visible. It rummaged through his belongings, moving onto the shelves beside the hidden bed once it didn't find what it so desperately desired.

"Where is it?" the figure shrieked in an abnormal voice; high pitched but wheezy and slurred to the point where the words were unrecognizable. Now hovering over the boy's curled form, a single glint caught the corner of his eyes before they closed completely. Agonizing gasps grew quieter until they were only whispers. If only it weren't for the aching snap in his side would he have fall into a restless sleep. Warm liquid pulled on previous wounds as it slipped down his back, filling the cuts in like clay and ripping away at them mercilessly. Tears caused him to choke before another ear piercing shriek echoed within his mind. Like a mantra, it only stopped once he slid into a menacing dream.

"Alphonse?"

The voice was feeble, mixed in with hasty pants. It took him a few seconds to realize it was his own. Eyes snapping open to the sudden discovery, he clumsily pushed himself up. The pants leaving his mouth scratched his throat but it only quickened them. Looking around wildly in paranoia, both his panting and breathing came to a halt when he noticed that everything was _untouched_. The figure now only seemed a memory and the mess they had created during the short visit was faded. The entire collision appeared to only be his imagination.

Disoriented and brewing an argument with himself of what truly happened, he glanced around blindly. A few blinks didn't improve his hazy vision and panic swept over him rapidly. Trembling hands pushed away the covers messily and his foot met the cold ground; the other clanking loudly against the dull wood, lifeless in appearance.

"Al?"

Almost immediately his face twisted into a dark scowl. His voice was barely above a hushed whisper.

"Brother what are you doing awake so early?"

The childish voice overwhelmed his, leaving him a bit stunned. Searching for words to fill the empty space he had left, a few finally felt out weakly. "Why didn't you answer the first time?"

"Because you were screaming in your sleep and I was afraid to wake you," he replied quietly, his armor nosily grating against each other as he shifted uneasily from where he stood. The puzzled look only grew, moonlight spilling through the window thinly revealing it as well as Al's silhouette before him.

Feeling foolish by standing there clueless, he could only shake his head meekly. Pretending that the bangs cast over his eyes were gone, he could only give his brother a fake smile in hopes of proving he was fine.

"I was?" the thirteen year old asked, trying his best to mask the melancholy in his shaken words. Golden eyes gazed up dully to match white. This was the second time so far this week, fifth time this month and he had already lost count of the times he had woken up shaken this year. Alphonse knew it perfectly well, _he _was the one who always told him after the panic had died down.

"You know you were Ed, you always do but you lie that you didn't!" Al finally shouted, his brother's passive manner to the subject finally having the full effect on him.

"Al!"

The cry was useless and he stumbled after his younger brother. Throwing himself in the dim hallway, voices shouted at him when no one was there. A sharp grasp caught his leg before a snap echoed in his ears. His head smashed against the blank wall as his hands shot out for any supports. Blood drenched his delirious sight and fear gripped his mind uncontrollably. Was this just a dream or was the blood real? Questions filed his head and muffled screams were helplessly brought away by darkness.

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**I actually posted a story like this named 'Fictional Obsession' but ended up deleting it since I suddenly had the urge to do a series of one-shots. Well, I hoped you like it.**

**RxR**


	2. Medication

**Title:** Ascension

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** It wasn't normal, anyone could tell him that. He only ignored them and closed his eyes once more.

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**Medication**

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_Voices? From where?_

Opening his tired eyes numbly, Edward twisted around in hopes of seeing who they belonged to. He could recognize one; Al's, the same muffled child's voice from that suit of armor that always spoke to him. The other was to quiet and he only picked a few words from what the stranger said.

Surrounded by the same darkness he had last woken up to, the fifteen year old raised himself on shaking arms. The bed creaked loudly underneath him and Ed froze as the voices stopped rapidly. His breathes grew quick enough to start choking him and he let out an abnormal cough, though he wouldn't call it a cough at all. It sounded like someone had just scratched at a piece of wood more then anything else.

Shaking away the troubling thoughts that had set some fear, he moved to the edge of the bed. A few inches from it, he nearly pulled himself off but was interrupted when the room's door opened and a strip of yellow light landed on his form.

"Mr. Elric, I highly advise you to stay in bed for the time being. Until we can figure things out," a man's voice wheezed and Ed glared at his silhouette.

"Figure what out?" he attempted to say but couldn't, his tongue felt caught in the back of his dry throat. Once more he tried but only mouthed the words. Finally, a look of disgust crossed his face and he stopped.

_Why the hell can't I talk?_

The lights flickered on. A sudden wave of dizziness passed over him and blurred the bright room. Ed closed his eyes to block out the blinding white and managed to shorten his breathes enough to stop any questions about them. He wouldn't say it, but everything was passing by to fast and his world had already begun to spin upon awakening.

"Figure out the reason for your sudden fainting spell and paranoia. You're brother's outside worried. I'm Dr. Landon," the man replied, his voice faded slightly. Ed only grunted in response, seeming that that was that only sound he could make at the moment besides the raspy coughs.

The doctor continued to talk but Ed merely ignored him. Opening one eye to keep track of what was happening around him, he squinted against the while walls that acted as mirrors to the light. He hated hospitals, the overwhelming stench of medicines, the fake calmness of the doctors, no sense of time anywhere; everything gathered together to make its walls hell. Someone could have died in the exact bed he now sat in and yet no one paid a second look; any attention as a matter of fact. It irritated Ed greatly.

"Just as I thought…" Dr. Landon sighed with a sad shake of his head. Ed looked at him with an alarmed expression, the words trapped in his mouth just begging to be said though he knew very well that he couldn't.

The doctor seemed to catch Ed's bewildered look. "Your sudden 'confusion' last night was caused by an illness known as sepsis which is an bacterial infection growing in your lungs, thus causing the symptoms you have now."

Overwhelmed by the sudden update, Ed shook his head rapidly in denial. He wasn't sick, he couldn't be. Everything that had happened yesterday was real, everything!

Furious by the situation, Ed pushed the sheets that had gathered around him and staggered to a stand with his automail hand wrapped the bed's metal frame tight enough to bend it. He probably would have too if his knees hadn't buckled out the second his body weight shifted onto them. With a yelp of surprise and disorientation, a heavy metal hand clasped his shoulder before he could hit the tiled ground below.

"Brother, what are you doing standing up?" his brother scolded as if he was a five year who was just found guilty. Edward attempted to explain but only squeaked at a few letters.

_Where is my voice dammit? _The thought entered his mind blankly but slowly began to terrify him after a few seconds of realizing it. Is it part of the illness? Even Alphonse seemed a bit taken back by his lack of words.

"We're still trying to figure out what caused your brother's muteness. It may be because of the infection but this isn't a normal side effect," Dr. Landon explained when Alphonse asked for the reason why Edward wouldn't reply normally. 'Trying' didn't seem to amuse either of the brothers.

He couldn't be mute, he needed his voice! Most things in the future would require him speaking and now, all that was gone. How was he supposed to communicate with everyone now, he sure didn't want to scribble down every word that came to mind.

Golden eyes dulled from the situation, a series of cold chills ran though his body as the fifteen year old sat down on the edge of the bed and buried his head in trembling hands.

"Brother, are you ok?"

Edward remained silent with no reason to answer, as he did for the next few days. Not even a yawn left the straight line his mouth had formed. Each minute dragged on to feel like hours and Al's attempts to talk with him only failed and left the blonde feeling empty; even the nurses started to try to spark some conversation which made them appear to be talking to themselves rather then Edward. He hated it but the loneliness that thickened the air when the room was empty strangled him more then anything else he could imagine. In the end, he couldn't even open an eyes without feeling strained.

"It's one of the symptoms of sepsis, he has a rather high fever," the doctor would say in his usual passive way. "He needs more rest."

Ed hated that voice. He could care less how much sleep he got, each night was the exact same no matter what drug they gave him.

"Oh, ok," Al's voice sighed as the familiar clanking of metal feet began.

_Don't leave me Al, stay._

But Ed couldn't say so; he could only listen to the footsteps fade and the sound of the lights being turned off.

Turning slightly though applying any pressure on his chest would lead to rather long vomiting sessions, he lay there on his back and forced both eyes open. It didn't matter that it was pitch black and he could barely see two inches away from his own face, they had closed the curtains to make it that way and "help with his sleeping problems". Like he had any.

"Edward…"

His breathes stopped and it took him a few seconds to decide what it truly was.

_Damn pills._

The thought gave him an excuse but his eyes still scanned the room; only expecting to see that same figure. His hands tightened around the sheets and tears filled his eyes, invisible to anything else but him.

Slowly regaining the air in his pained lungs, he pushed himself up on a tense elbow and moved off the bed as best he could in the darkness. Disliking the cold ground against his bare foot, he moved to the bathroom as quickly as he could though it wasn't fast at all. Ed's hand waved before him blindly in an attempt to come in contact with the door. Something warm tickled the tips of his fingers and in a fast movement, swung his hand away. Doors weren't warm.

Scrambling away from it, his back pressed against wall behind him. It wasn't a dream, _couldn't be. _If he was still asleep he would have woken up by now. At least he thought so.

"Edward, where are you?"

At that, his eyes closed.

_Go away._

The tears now burnt his cheeks. It was a replay of last night except Al wouldn't find him this time. No one would.

_I'm all alone._

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Not the longest chapter, time really bugs me. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and please continue to voice your opinions xD 

**RxR**


	3. False Images

**Title:** Ascension

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** It wasn't normal, anyone could tell him that. He only ignored them and closed his eyes once more.

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**False Images**

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Again! The word annoyed Alphonse greatly and if he would have had the ability to show expressions, it would be pure anger. Frustrated at his brother's recklessness, Alphonse opened the door to his hospital room. Light poured in to reveal a curled body beneath hills of sheets. A common sight. 

"Brother!" Alphonse hissed, moving closer. In a split second, Edward was staring back at the suit of armor with golden orbs blurred from his tears. His mouth moved to say a few things but no sound came out and Alphonse's mood only lingered on the edge. "Are you ok? The doctors told me about how you had a panic attack again yesterday…"

The boy's face changed into frustration and his hand moved to rip of the piece of paper and pencil from its position on the table besides his bed. In messy writing, Edward scribbled down his thoughts and handed it briskly to Alphonse who took it slowly.

"They're lying, no on believes me that it isn't real. You will though, right Al?" the suit of armor read, mumbling the words to himself before averting his straight gaze to his brother.

Edward nodded rapidly, glancing at the door nervously before motioning for the piece of paper to come back to his hold. Al gave it back to him and sighed.

"They said it was a panic attack and that you were imagining things once more, it's common with your condition," Al said, repeating the words Dr. Landon had said to calm his worries.

_**His footsteps were quite a racket in the still hallway as he paced back and forth before the blank door. His brother was shaking when he first brought him in and as the minutes ticked by, he began to worry even more of what's happening to him. **_

_**The door opened and Al stopped in his tracks to watch as a frustrated doctor left the room.**_

_**"He's stable, for now that is, his sepsis could be growing. We're not sure but it's there and that's why he's acting so…" he began and Al finished for him.**_

_**"Different?"**_

_**The man nodded and pushed open the door for Alphonse to enter.**_

_**"He's asleep and I highly advise to stay clear of him for now. He had a panic attack and with his condition it's fairly common."**_

_**With a word of thanks, Al entered the white room where a nurse hovered over his brother's limp form.**_

"Yes it is!"

Alphonse felt stupid arguing with his brother, seeming that his answers where only scribbles and they couldn't communicate properly. Once more, chunky letters told him his response and he argued back to it once more.

"There is no _it, _it's all in your imagination," Al sighed, wondering how long it would take to convince his brother that he was sick. Edward, of all people, sick! His brother didn't get sick and he may need some convincing as well.

With a crumbled paper now in his fist, Al shook his head and strained against the metal scraping.

"I called the Colonel," he began and immediately Edward had a look of anger on his pale face. If he could talk, it would only be shouts from here on. "I'm sorry, I had to. He'll be here in the morning."

A frown forming on the fifteen year old face and Edward dropped his pencil on the table top. He grabbed the sheets that now encircled him in a messy arrangement and pulled them up to his nose before rolling over to face his back on Al.

"Brother!"

Nothing, just the various noises of the hospital and his brother's gasping breathes. Feeling more down then when he had entered, he laid the piece of paper on the table top before turning to leave. "Good night brother."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He couldn't believe it. Al, his own brother turned against him like everyone else in this hell hole. And, to his enjoyment the Colonel Bastard was coming to check up on him.

Irritated beyond belief, he slammed his eyes shut as the door closed and the stream of light vanished, leaving him in the darkness he was so accustomed to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The nurse had already checked up on him and now he was left to wait. He hated waiting.

Twisting his oddly stiff body to reach for the paper that they had placed as far away from his as possible. Managing to catch it at his fingertips, Edward pulled it along with the dulling pencil towards him. One side was already full from last nights quarrel and he couldn't help but cross out the parts where he had capitalized every word in a sense of anger. Now littered with X's and dark marks, Ed flipped it over and continued onto a new sentence.

Voices argued from the opposite side of the door and it swung open to reveal the people he had strained not to see.

"Ah Fullmetal, I see you've managed to get yourself into the usual trouble," Roy sighed, shaking that tuff of black hair Ed felt like shaving. Without an expression to judge his feelings, he raised the piece of paper to reveal a few words he had written as big as he could fit.

**GO AWAY SHIT FACE**

Roy glared at it but a smirk remained on his lips.

_Crap, now what?_

"Alphonse has informed me of your condition and it seems that you can no longer take care of yourself… Properly that is," he sighed and Ed hurried to scribble down an answer.

**I can take care of myself perfectly well and don't need your help dumbass.**

"I'm not the one lying in bed," Roy countered, keeping a cold look on his face. "Obliviously your conditioning is worsening and you were supposed to report back to me over a month and a half ago."

_What is this guy, a human clock!_

Ed frowned at that and had to restrain himself from showing the trembles that now threatened to mess his writing.

**Go to hell.**

That sure made him light headed and to his horror Roy noticed the change.

"Your report is over due and the military-"

Ed glared at him hatefully and scribbled down the words that first entered his mind.

**I QUIT. **

He snatched the pocket watch that lay at his feet and threw it at Roy abruptly. It was all over and he couldn't care less, nobody took a second to listen to him anyway.

"Brother…" was all Al said as Roy shook his head once more before departing with Riza trailing behind him. Ed didn't bother raising his head and only looked out the window.

Nothing mattered.

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I'm not sure why I decided to update this one first, usually it's my Holocaust series but I'm still working on the upcoming chapter. Huge plans for it O.o 

**RXR** (thank you to everyone who did so)


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